Our lives are full of turning points, be they big or small, obvious or subtle, dreadful or sublime. They can be dramatic “Aha!” moments or subtle insights that quietly nudge us in a new direction.

A person's way of thinking may pivot with new perspectives, with the influx of knowledge or through changes in circumstances. Big events in our personal lives can spin us around in disorienting ways, like falling in or out of love, beginning or changing careers, taking the leap into parenthood, suffering injury or illness, dealing with the death of loved ones. On a grander scale, in the world at large we are witness to societal sea changes, swings in political power, economic crises, the crumbling of governments, paradigm shifts in world order, wars, environmental disasters - events that can alter the course of millions of people’s lives. But even something as simple as a tap on the shoulder by a friend, a change in the weather or the discovery of a new path in the woods can present a turning point in our trajectory for a minute, an hour, or a day.

Juror: Ann Jastrab, the Executive Director of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA.